The Under 21 Men's and Under 21 Women's play a Single-Game Knock-out Format leading to the Semi-Finals and Cup Finals on one weekend in August.

The Men's, Women's and Special Olympics' divisions play a Single-Game Knock-out Format leading to the Cup Finals in September.

The Ontario Cup winners in those age divisions advance to the National Championships which are usually played on Thanksgiving weekend in various provinces across Canada.

This program is an important component of the overall movement to adopt the core principles of Long Term Player Development (LTPD) across soccer at large in Ontario and Canada.

Focusing on stages 4 (Train-To-Train) and 5 (Train-To-Compete) of the LTPD pathway, OPDL represents young players' early graduation to a genuine high performance training environment, targeting only the top athletes in the province from age groups U13 to U23 with what will be the highest level of competitive youth soccer in Ontario.

In order to participate, clubs must apply for a license and meet strict criteria that show themselves to be worthy of training and developing the province's best.

Entry is decided on by the quality of the club, not the results on the field, allowing coaches to focus purely on developing their players.

The competition is a chance provide Ontario Soccer staff an opportunity to observe and assess players and coaches outside a regular game environment.

The Gary Miller Charity Shield is designed to highlight the achievements of OPDL teams in the U-14, U-15 and U-17 age groups.

The following organizations are current or historical license holders: The selection process for Canada's National Teams relies heavily on the Provincial Player Development Programs.

Development Squads of approximately fifty girls and boys are selected for further screening with this number being reduced to thirty in each group by November.

The U14 and U16 Programs conduct a week-long training camp one week prior to the National All-Star Championships held at the end of July.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario Soccer migrated all certification courses to an online format starting with the 2021 season.

Ontario Soccer began in 2022 a media campaign called "No Ref, No Game", reminding spectators, coaches and players that Match Officials give respect to them and expect it to be returned.

This new field will expand the outdoor playing season and eliminate the need to cancel games because of poor weather conditions.

The new outdoor facility has bleacher seating to accommodate up to 2000 spectators, and a FIFA 2-star quality turf (designation for professional-level soccer fields).